Jerkins has published three widely diverse novels including “The Ninth Step At the End of the Road.” Academy Award nominated director Barbet Schroeder is attached to direct the film adaptation of his debut novel, A Very Simple Crime. According to The Washington Post,” You have to admire the purity of Jerkins’s writing: He’s determined to peer into the darkness and tell us exactly what he sees.”

Farris is a graduate of Yale University. His novel, “Last Call for the Living,” was one of Bouchercon’s most exciting debuts and found a place on numerous Best of 2012 lists.

3:30 p.m. — Carapace Atlanta Storytellers (Main Stage)

Featured on CNN and in Creative Loafing, Carapace is an oral storytelling group where people share true personal stories in front of a live audience.

Atkins is the author of three novels. His debut, “The Front Porch Prophet,” was awarded the Georgia Author of the Year Award for First Novel. His second novel, “Sorrow Wood,” was released in 2009 and his third novel, “Camp Redemption,” received the Ferrol Sams Award for Fiction and was published by Mercer University Press in March.

Watts is the debut novelist of “Moon over Taylor’s Ridge,” which has been nominated for both the 2013 Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance Book Award and the 2013 Georgia Author of the Year for First Novel.

Yawn’s Publishing of Canton will share the work of Angela and Chuck Wilson (“Santa’s Magic Toy Bag”), Laura Fritz (“Poodle on a Noodle” — Casey the Poodle will be in attendance), Sulaine Sims (“Talking to the Animals: An Anthology of Short Poems” written and illustrated by Creative and Performing Arts Academy Summer Camp Students of Jasper) and Debbie Byrd (“Lily & Grace: Friends to the Rescue.”)

McNeal grew up listening to her grandfather telling tales about their family. She inherited his talent for spinning tragedy into comedy and loves to share her stories about growing up in Alabama and her adventures after moving to Atlanta. She has been a featured performer at Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, Tellabration! produced by the Southern Order of Storytellers and Stories on the Edge of Night at Manuel’s Tavern. McNeal is also the host of “Stories on the Square,” a monthly storytelling event hosted by Eddie’s Attic in downtown Decatur.

For more information about the celebration, email Co-Chair Carmen Slaughter at carments@comcast.net or call the Cherokee County Arts Center at (770) 704-6244.

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